Jerry Wilson​

A 7-year-old Spirit Lake girl died Saturday, September 19, 1998, less than a day after being shot in the head by her father. Brittany Wilson’s death completed a tragedy that began when Jerry Wilson, 37, shot his wife and Brittany on September 18, then turned the .22-caliber rifle on himself.

Dickinson County Sheriff said that Jerry had previously made threats to his wife, Gwendolyn Wilson, 36. They were living apart and were seeking a divorce. “He’d been telling them he was going to do exactly what he did,” the sheriff said.

The previous June, a friend of Gwendolyn’s contacted authorities about threats that were being made by her husband. She filed a statement and was told what she could do to protect herself. She did not, though, seek a restraining order against Jerry.

Jerry used a sawed-off rifle to shoot his wife and daughter at close range before killing himself with a shot to the head. After deputies arrived at the scene, Brittany was taken to a hospital where she was put on life-support. She was removed from life-support the following day, eight hours after she was shot.